Connected by Ink
by tyl ashke
Summary: Ichigo asks to see Renji's new tattoos and Renji soon realises his interest in the orange-haired substitute. RenIchi.


Written for the springkink prompt: 17th Feb Bleach, Renji/Ichigo: Tattoo fetish - "Ya wanna do what?"

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* * *

Connected by Ink**

"Ya wanna do what?"

"C'mon Ren, you're not usually this shy. Lemme see your new tattoos."

"What's with your rush, eh, Ichi?"

Renji watched with a grin as the orange-haired teenager's face darkened from a faint pink to cherry red at his teasing.

"Fine. I don't need to see them anyway."

He heard Ichigo huff, brows creased together, frowning at having been made fun off, before the teenager turned to look at a point in the distance, his arms folded over his lightly muscled chest. It was always fun teasing the substitute – they had become best friends quickly after he had gotten trashed by Ichigo when he first came to Soul Society – and they both knew it was harmless fun anyway.

"Alright, you owe me for missing out on the healing."

Renji mock-grumbled, turning over and getting on his knees from the comfortable lounging position they had been resting in, enjoying the healing springs in the secret training ground in Seireitei after their training. Taking the small towel he brought along, he placed it over his groin, back facing Ichigo. His ass was partially submerged in the water and he had no qualms leaving it exposed; after all, the new tattoos extended down to it.

"You know how I've extended it, right?"

Following the slightly muffled "Uh", Renji allowed the substitute to look for several more seconds before he turned his head, impatient and curious to see why it fascinated Ichigo.

He had extended the tattoos on his back downwards after being promoted to the Captain of the Fifth. It had been a proud moment when he stood facing his former Captain, Kuchiki Byakuya of the Sixth, during the Captain's meeting. He had been adding to his tattoos whenever he felt he accomplished something significant – they were a mark of his pride, a physical marking that reminded him of everything he achieved, both tangible and intangible – and this time was no exception. The tattoos along his spine now ran all the way down, stopping just above his ass. A new pair of symmetrical tribal designs now adorned his lower back.

Ichigo's look of amazement as the orange-haired teenager stared at his tattoos caught Renji off-guard. He had never expected someone else to be in awe of his markings; he knew Rikichi idolised him, but this was different.

"Eh, Ichi, you can touch them if you want to, ya know?"

He watched as Ichigo hastily put down the slender hands that had been tracing over the tattoos in mid-air, face flushing as their eyes met, before looking utterly surprised at the opportunity he was given.

Renji did not know who liked it more: Ichigo, with barely concealed glee in brown eyes as he ran his fingers over the black ink, or himself, feeling blood pool in his groin at the sensation of callused fingers trailing along his skin.

It felt wrong to him, wrong to be turned on by a friend's simple interest in his tattoos. It was only when the orange-haired substitute's hands paused briefly, just an inch above his ass, that it hit him why it seemed so wrong and Renji shuffled forward on his knees, breaking off from the warmth of callused fingers on his back, before turning and submerging himself in the pool again.

"That's enough. I need ta get healed up soon. We have ta go back soon."

He tried to sound as normal as he could, thankful for the towel that now barely covered his arousal. There was no way he wanted Ichigo to find out that he had been turned on by it; he did not want to be teased since he had no idea how he would react.

It was only after a few seconds when he calmed down that he turned to look at Ichigo. Surprisingly, the substitute looked preoccupied and the redhead decided not to bother him. He had his own matters to work out.

* * *

"Taicho, you're meeting Hisagi-taicho for dinner tonight."

"How many times have I told you not to call me 'Taicho' in private, Hinamori-fukutaicho?"

Using the overly formal term of address for his Lieutenant that he did not prefer but used to get back at her, Renji glared at the shorter girl, standing next to him with a smile on her face as she waited for him to look over the report she placed on his desk, before realising that she had said something about dinner.

"Why's Hisagi-sempai having dinner with me tonight?" Scowling slightly at the unexpected dinner appointment, the redhead Captain found himself suddenly reminded of the typical scowl Ichigo wore and almost found himself missing his Lieutenant's reply while he attempted to get his mind off the orange-haired substitute.

"Well, Renji-san, you've been scowling over the past few weeks and it's time you have dinner with someone who might be able to help. Hisagi-san said that he might know something you might be interested in so I decided to set you up for dinner, since you've been having dinner on your own over the past weeks."

"Momo, I didn't realise you were picking up tips from Rangiku."

Watching as his Lieutenant blushed, Renji grinned. After the Winter War, it had taken the petite girl the longest to recover from her injuries, both physical and mental, and it had only been with much effort and persistence on her part, as well as help from her friends before she overcame Aizen's influence.

That she could now smile after what she had gone through was evidence of how far she had come since then. Even though their friends attributed much of her change to him, who being her Captain had a significant influence over her, Renji did not think he was the only one responsible, but always felt proud whenever he observed her cheerful smile.

Reading through the report she placed on his desk, Renji signed off with an untidy scribble that even Byakuya had failed to change, despite the improvements with his penmanship, and handed the document back to his Lieutenant.

"'s there anything else?"

He watched as the black-haired girl shook her head before standing and stretching slightly. "I'm off then. Where am I supposed to meet Hisagi-sempai?"

"The usual restaurant, Renji-kun. Enjoy your dinner."

Nodding to his smiling Lieutenant, Renji stepped out of their office, heading for the restaurant with his usual confident stride. _'So, Momo's noticed as well, eh? Haha. I need ta settle this soon.'_

Ichigo had not been too far from his thoughts ever since their encounter in the healing springs. He had initially been bothered by the fact that he had been turned on by Ichigo – they were friends and he loathed to ruin their friendship; Ichigo was after all only a substitute, had a separate life in the Human world and they were years apart – but all these failed to matter once Renji realised he had no inkling if Ichigo was gay. For that matter, he was not even sure if he was, after all, it was only Ichigo who had _that_ effect on him; he had concentrated on working to surpass Byakuya since his Academy days and only had his hand for company if he ever felt the need.

He did try to avoid thinking about Ichigo though, since it would be some time before the substitute came back to Soul Society and the redhead hoped that his fascination with him would disappear by the next time he came back.

What he had not counted on however, was his mind supplying him unbidden images of Ichigo, thoughts of how it would be better with the orange-haired teenager around and how he was a perfect match for him given their mutual liking for tattoos. Hell. Even Zabimaru had dropped in to comment several times, the linked spirits giving their approval to the strength and personality of the orange-haired substitute.

He had finally given up on thinking too much about the whole matter and had settled for dealing with it when Ichigo came again. It still rubbed him the wrong way when he thought about the orange-haired teenager in the wrong way though. Damn. He still felt guilty about thinking about Ichigo's athletic body, that enticing V-shaped torso, the slender fingers moving languidly over the thick, jagged black lines that marked him, when he got himself off several nights ago.

Nodding to the gatekeeper as he left Seireitei, the redhead made two right turns in quick succession and found himself at the restaurant soon after. Bending slightly as his hands parted the noren [1] before sliding open the door to greetings from the attendants within, Renji spotted Hisagi's wave and made his way over to the corner of the restaurant where he was seated.

Following brief greetings, they placed their orders, "The usual, please," before settling in and sharing their first bottle of sake. They updated each other on the latest happenings in their Divisions over dinner – Hisagi had been promoted to Captain of the Ninth after achieving his Bankai, soon after the war – and it was only after the plates were cleared and they started on their second bottle that Renji asked about what Momo had told him.

"So sempai, what's it that ya think I might be interested in?"

"Ichigo got a tattoo before he left Soul Society."

It sounded so normal in the short-haired Captain's slightly rough voice that Renji, despite not being anywhere close to drunk, took slightly longer than usual to realise what exactly the substitute had done.

He tried to conceal his surprise however, making no response and Hisagi continued soon after, as he expected him to.

"He came to look for me in the morning, asking about my tattoos and saying that you refused to tell him where you got yours done, since he wanted to get one. I didn't see anything wrong, so I gave him the address, and he came back a few hours later to thank me for it. I guess he got something done, though I didn't ask what."

Renji's only response was a soft "Oh." It seemed weird to him. Ichigo had not asked him about it and the redhead knew he would not have refused to tell Ichigo about the tattoo shop if he had asked outright. His mind however began to wander and midway through their fifth bottle, Renji had a question.

"Hisagi-san, how did you know that you liked Kira?"

It was common knowledge among their group of friends that the two Captains had gotten together after the war, but this was the first time Renji had asked about their relationship. Of all things, he was not expecting his sempai to shrug his shoulders before he replied.

"There was something about Kira that I've kinda liked since the Academy. I've probably thought of him too many times to count before we actually got together and I enjoyed his company."

After a pause, he continued. "If you're asking why Kira, since he's a guy, then I guess it didn't matter to me either way. I don't think you can control who exactly you like and having him in my thoughts most of the time, more than any girl or guy for that matter, was probably enough to confirm that I felt something for him."

Another round of drinks followed before they headed back to the Ninth, which was nearer to the restaurant than the Fifth, and also because Hisagi preferred to stay at his Division's quarters while Kira was busy – the Third was on standby over the night.

Both Captains knew their alcohol tolerance levels and knew better than to get drunk unnecessarily. Nonetheless, Renji was slightly drunk and without really considering any potential implications, he shrugged off his shitagi and kosode, before turning to his fellow Captain.

"Shuu, can you do me a favour? Trace the tattoos on my back with your finger?"

Several seconds later, he heard the stumble of footsteps, followed by a warm touch on his back. As it travelled rather unsteadily along his shoulders before moving downward, Renji only knew one thing – it was very different from the heated touch that had been Ichigo's finger.

When the finger left his back, he heard footsteps before Shuuhei's familiar voice rang out, "Now that I've seen them in close-up, your new ones are really cool, Ren."

"Thanks, Shuu. Now, how about we get showered and sleep?" Placing an arm over the shorter Captain's shoulder, they staggered towards the cupboards, picking up the necessary clothes – Renji stayed over often enough to leave some clothes in Shuuhei's room – before heading for the showers.

* * *

The familiar flare of reiatsu told him Ichigo was in Soul Society, in fact, somewhere in Seireitei. Yet, what bothered him this time was that Ichigo had not come looking for him once he arrived.

'_You're jealous.'_ Ignoring the thought in his mind, the redhead Captain glared at the urgent paperwork on his desk, hoping that it would vanish and wondering how Hisagi-sempai dealt with it if he knew Kira was waiting for him.

A knock sounded on the door, interrupting his thoughts and Renji looked up immediately. "Enter." When it opened to reveal his Fifth Seat, he turned his head back to the paperwork and tried his best to focus. He had to finish it. Once it was done, the next thing was to look for Ichigo so that he could settle this situation, no mess, no… _'Damn, I don't even know what to call it…'_

Suppressing what he supposed was a mix between a huff and a sigh, Renji put his mind to the paperwork. Seconds turned to minutes, then to hours as countless words passed his brown eyes, fingers that grasped his brush scrawling his signature on various documents, before placing them on the appropriate stacks on his desk.

"Renji-san, I'm done for the day. This isn't urgent, so you should look for someone for dinner… or something once you're finished with the report you're working on."

It was only then that he realised how much time had passed; it was already evening. Looking at the sheaf of documents Momo placed on his table, then up at his Lieutenant, Renji nodded, blushing slightly after he noticed the hint in her words. "Thanks, Momo."

"No problem, Renji-kun. I'll see you tomorrow."

Nodding as she waved goodbye, the redhead bent his head again, the brush between his fingers forming relatively legible characters quickly as he started on the conclusion to the report.

Five minutes later, he dotted the final full stop with a sense of finality, blew on the parchment to allow the ink to dry, before placing the report at the top of the stack meant for despatch the next morning. Somewhere out there Ichigo's reiatsu still pulsed, though it seemed slightly different from the one he sensed several hours ago.

Locking his office door behind him, Renji turned and headed to the entrance to his Division, wondering how he would locate Ichigo with his still less than adequate reiatsu sensing abilities compared to the other Captains.

As he approached the entrance gateway however, Renji spotted a familiar silhouette. Increasing his pace, he neared the figure and felt his heart skip a beat as a nearby lamp cast light on the figure, revealing bright orange hair and the familiar scowl.

"Hey."

"Ya know, Ren, I've been waiting for quite some time."

"…My office's now too boring for ya, eh?"

"Nope, I went to look for Rukia about… erm… some stuff then I came here. I saw Momo not too long ago and she told me that you were almost done, so I kinda decided to wait here so I wouldn't interrupt you."

In a swift motion, Renji stepped forward and grabbed Ichigo in a headlock. "You spent several hours talking to Rukia? Now confess, what the hell were the both of you talking about?"

"Lemme go! Why do you wanna know anyway? It's …not very important."

"I'm just interested to know why you decided to bother a Lieutenant for several hours. Hmm… is it girl stuff?"

"No! Lemme go or you'll regret it."

"I don't think so." Before Renji could continue, he felt Ichigo's hand come down firmly on his ass with a loud 'thwack'. More in surprise than in shock, he let go of the substitute immediately, wondering for a moment why it suddenly felt tighter at his groin, before noticing that Ichigo was already several hundred metres in front of him.

"Why you asshole, come back here!"

As was usual, they raced without shunpo and it was only after some time that a heavily panting Renji caught up with Ichigo, who was leaning against a wall trying to catch his breath, dealing him an equally hard blow on his ass.

"Ren, you suck."

"Nah, now we're tied." Looking around, Renji discovered that they were near his apartment and knew that there was food nearby. "Dinner, Ichi?"

"Yeah, of course. Who's the one who kept me waiting?"

"Why, you bastard!"

Renji punched lightly at Ichigo's shoulder, before they headed off in the direction of the eateries, exchanging friendly banter along the way. If he had not already been sure that he felt something for Ichigo, the instant reaction he had when his hand came into contact with the teen's pert ass was more than enough evidence.

* * *

"Ya owe me something, Ichi."

Back in his apartment after a hearty dinner and two rounds of drinks – Ichigo was staying over in his place as was usual – Renji gathered his guts and asked, knowing that whatever happened next would affect things between them somehow.

"What?" Ichigo asked, sounding slightly buzzed.

"Lemme see your new tatt."

"Why?"

"'Cos you owe me, idiot?" Renji snorted, wondering if the orange-haired teenager was already drunk. "Remember, when you asked the last time, I showed you mine without saying anything?"

"Nope, you're wrong, Ren. I had to ask a few times before you agreed, but since I'm obviously more generous than you, you won't have to ask again."

"Hey…" Renji's voice tapered off when Ichigo started stripping. It was only after his shitagi and kosode lay on the floor, crumpled, and he started tugging on his hakama, did the redhead start wondering where exactly the tattoo was.

The redhead was trying to avoid staring at Ichigo's crotch as the hakama inched downwards, hanging dangerously low on his hips, when he suddenly caught sight of a flash of black against tanned skin. It lay right above Ichigo's right hip bone, the shape of Zangetsu's cross guard carved out in black.

"See it now?"

"…why Zangetsu?" Renji asked after a pause.

"I'm not really sure, but I owe my life, our lives, everything to him during that battle. It just seemed appropriate and a good way to celebrate that I'd be turning legal soon."

Renji thought for a moment and realised that the orange-haired teenager's birthday had been several days ago. "Happy belated birthday, Ichi. I'm sorry I didn't get anything for ya."

"It's fine. …You do know you can touch if you wanna, right?"

"Erm…" _'It's just a tattoo, there's nothing very fascinating about it, and he's not staring at me, it's just his normal scowl…'_ "…of course I do."

With a grin on his face in an attempt to hide his nervousness, Renji reached out and felt soft skin against his callused fingertip as he ran his finger over the smooth black lines. Close enough to Ichigo to pick up his distinctive scent of citrus, berries and sandalwood, Renji had his eyes focused on the black lines, not wanting to take the risk overstepping his boundaries – while he knew he liked Ichigo, he was not entirely sure how and when he should make the next move, especially when Ichigo looked perfectly kissable – until he felt soft lips pressed to his.

Surprised at being caught off-guard, he gave in to the gentle probing once it registered in his mind that Ichigo was indeed kissing him and it was not another dream that he would wake up from feeling unsatisfied, and their tongues tangled together, eagerly exploring each other's mouths.

When they finally broke apart, Ichigo tugged at Renji's uniform, removing the top swiftly, before loosening the ties on his hakama while Renji did the same to his. Clad in only their fundoshi, arousals obvious, straining against the confining white cotton, they made their way to the bedroom, before Renji tackled Ichigo to the futons that were already laid out on the floor.

"Ichigo, are you sure about this?"

"Damn right I am. I didn't spend several hours listening to Rukia rant about how half of Seireitei's guessed that you're interested in me and since I'm the one with the fucking huge crush on you and how cool you look with those tattoos, I should be taking the initiative. She was like fucking scary, drawing those bunnies and lecturing me on how we should be fucking." Ichigo replied and promptly turned a crimson red.

Renji smirked. "So that's what you were talking about. Did she say anything about who's the one who's going to be fucked?"

"Ren-ji!"

The redhead could not stop himself from laughing out loud at the shocked look on Ichigo's face, only to have it thrown back at him when the teenager continued speaking.

"She did say that she thinks you're still a virgin too though."

It took him several seconds to muster a comeback. "Well, I'm not telling, but I think this will speak for itself." Despite still being a virgin as their best friend had accurately guessed, Renji reached into Ichigo's fundoshi, palming the erection with one hand and loosening the cloth with the other.

He was not surprised when Ichigo moaned, arching into his touch, while trying to do the same to him. It did not take very long for the two of them to be clad only in their skin, tanned and artistically marked, hands wrapped around each other's arousals and eagerly exploring each other's bodies.

Moments later, Renji paused in his administrations. "It's time for a level up, Ichi." Turning around, the redhead positioned his mouth at Ichigo's groin, tracing the substitute's tattoo with a finger, before running his tongue along the thinner black lines, earning a shudder from the teen.

As he prepared to take Ichigo in his mouth, he glanced down, meeting pleasure-hazed brown eyes as the orange-haired substitute lapped at his tattoos that led downward, and could not help being incredibly turned on. "Liking my tattoos much, eh Ichi?"

"Yeah? I think you like mine too much to move onto the main prize, Ren."

The moment he stopped speaking, Ichigo wrapped his mouth around the redhead's erection as far as he could and started sucking on it. "Fuck!" was a sufficient response to his somewhat clumsy administrations and seconds later, he felt Renji do the same to him.

It seemed that Rukia was potentially wrong about Renji when he felt the redhead's mouth move up and down, his tongue licking at his most sensitive parts before sucking on him, bringing him closer to pleasure even as he tried to emulate the motions.

Despite the pleasure coursing through him, Ichigo remembered something about deep-throating that Rukia had briefly mentioned and decided to try it – everything they shared ended up being a competition and this was no exception. Overcoming his gag reflex, he swallowed Renji's arousal in its entirety, until coarse crimson hairs tickled at his nose and began trailing his fingers over the redhead's tattoos. The tell-tale shudder told him he was on the right path.

Two heartbeats later, the orange-haired teenager felt Renji's tongue licking incessantly at the most sensitive parts of his erection and the redhead's too warm fingers over his chest, tweaking and ghosting over his erect nipples, and trembled. He knew he was close to the edge and put in a last burst of effort, sucking on the redhead's arousal greedily in a bid to overwhelm him.

In an instant, it was all over. His pleasure peaked swiftly and he felt himself shooting like he had never done before and suddenly, he felt Renji shudder as well, filing his mouth as he rushed to swallow the salty-sweet liquid, slightly surprised that he did not find it distasteful.

"That was fucking hot, Ichi." Renji licked his lips, savouring the last traces of the orange-haired teenager, enjoying how it was slightly different from his own, before turning back around and leaning in for a kiss.

Pleasure-sated, he felt Ichigo run his fingers lazily over his tattoos – it was fantastic how they both liked the black ink that now adorned their bodies – before curling up around him and falling asleep.

It did not take Renji much longer to join Ichigo in slumber. He did not even manage to think about what this meant for them, about them, but he knew that they were both stubborn enough to make things work out. After all, they were connected not just by their friendship but also by the black ink that marked them.

His last thought before he fell asleep was how cool it would be if they both got matching tattoos.

* * *

Note: [1] Fabric dividers/curtains at the entrance of restaurants/onsen

Thanks for reading! Looking forward to any comments/reviews. ^^


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